Top 55 Cinematographers (1980-2015)
Listed in order and focused on 1980-2015.
5 Runner Ups
Christian Berger
Rafael Ouellet
Wei-Han Yang
Yong Hou
Stephane Fontaine
8 Best Before 1980
Jean Rabier
John Alcott
John F. Seitz
Yoshio Miyajima
Geoffrey Unsworth
Levan Paatashvili
Freddie Young
Henri Decaë
5 Best After 2015
Greig Fraser (2016)
Linus Sandgren (2016)
Steve Yedlin (2017)
Rob Hardy (2018) [Mission: Impossible - Fallout & Annihilation]
Jarin Blaschke (2019)
2 Best Anime Cinematographer
Keisuke Nakamura (The Tale of the Princess Kaguya & Steins;Gate)
Makoto Shinkai
Best Camera Operator Mention
Jörg Widmer
5 Runner Ups
Christian Berger
Rafael Ouellet
Wei-Han Yang
Yong Hou
Stephane Fontaine
8 Best Before 1980
Jean Rabier
John Alcott
John F. Seitz
Yoshio Miyajima
Geoffrey Unsworth
Levan Paatashvili
Freddie Young
Henri Decaë
5 Best After 2015
Greig Fraser (2016)
Linus Sandgren (2016)
Steve Yedlin (2017)
Rob Hardy (2018) [Mission: Impossible - Fallout & Annihilation]
Jarin Blaschke (2019)
2 Best Anime Cinematographer
Keisuke Nakamura (The Tale of the Princess Kaguya & Steins;Gate)
Makoto Shinkai
Best Camera Operator Mention
Jörg Widmer
List activity
5.6K views
• 0 this weekCreate a new list
List your movie, TV & celebrity picks.
55 people
- Cinematographer
- Camera and Electrical Department
- Additional Crew
Roger Deakins is an English cinematographer best known for his work on the films of the Coen brothers, Sam Mendes, and Denis Villeneuve.
He is a member of both the American and British Society of Cinematographers.
Deakins' first feature film in America as cinematographer was Mountains of the Moon (1990). He began his collaboration with the Coen brothers in 1991 on the film Barton Fink. He received his first major award from the American Society of Cinematographers for his outstanding achievement in cinematography for the internationally praised major motion picture The Shawshank Redemption (1994).
He is also known for his work in The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007), No Country for Old Men (2007), True Grit (2010), Skyfall (2012), Sicario (2015), and Blade Runner 2049 (2017).
Deakins also worked as one of the visual consultants for Pixar's animated feature WALL-E.
In 2018 he won an Oscar for best cinematographer for his work in Blade Runner 2049.Must See:
The Man Who Wasn't There
The Shawshank Redemption
Prisoners
Sicario
Blade Runner 2049
1917- Cinematographer
- Director
- Actor
Rodrigo Prieto is a Mexican cinematographer. He is best known for Brokeback Mountain (2005), Babel (2006), Argo (2012), The Wolf of Wall Street (2013), and Silence (2016).
He also worked with Alejandro González Iñárritu on the acclaimed Amores perros (2000), 21 Grams (2003), and Biutiful (2010).
Pietro was nominated for two Academy Award for Best Cinematography, first in Brokeback Mountain and later in Silence.10 Must See:
The Wolf of Wall Street
Passengers
Babel
Brokeback Mountain
Broken Embraces
Frida
Argo
Lust, Caution
21 Grams
8 Mile- Cinematographer
- Visual Effects
- Camera and Electrical Department
Robert Elswit is an American cinematographer. He is best known for Boogie Nights (1997), Magnolia (1999), Good Night, and Good Luck (2005), There Will Be Blood (2007), Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol (2011), Inherent Vice (2014), and Nightcrawler (2014).
Elswit frequently works with director Paul Thomas Anderson and has worked with George Clooney several times. He shot Clooney's black and white, multiple-Oscar nominated film Good Night, and Good Luck. Notably, Elswit shot the film in color, then converted the film into black and white in post production.
He received his first Academy Award nomination for Best Cinematography in 2006 for his work on the movie Good Night, and Good Luck. Two years later, he would again be nominated and this time win the Oscar for Best Cinematography, for his work on There Will Be Blood.Must See:
There Will Be Blood
Good Night, and Good Luck
Boogie Nights
Magnolia
Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol
Inherent Vice- Cinematographer
- Camera and Electrical Department
- Additional Crew
Robert Richardson has won three Academy Awards and earned seven Academy Award nominations for his cinematography. His work on director Oliver Stone's JFK earned him his first Oscar. His second and third came with The Aviator and Hugo directed by Martin Scorsese. These two films also garnered him BAFTA nominations for Best Cinematographer.
Prior to regularly collaborating with well-known directors like Oliver Stone and Quentin Tarantino, Richardson served an apprenticeship shooting second unit on Repo Man while filming television documentaries for PBS and the BBC. His work in television led Stone to hire Richardson to shoot both Salvador and Platoon. From there, he worked almost exclusively with Stone, filming Wall Street, Born on the Fourth of July and The Doors, while occasionally branching out to shoot films like John Sayles' Eight Men Out and City of Hope.
Richardson also shot Stone's Natural Born Killers, Nixon and U-Turn. He then began collaborating with Martin Scorsese and Quentin Tarantino. Scorsese chose him as DP on 1999's Bringing Out the Dead, while Tarantino snapped him up for Kill Bill, Vol. 1 and Kill Bill, Vol. 2.
Richardson continued to make his mark as Tarantino's DP on 2012's Django Unchained and 2015's The Hateful Eight, as well as on Ben Affleck's 2016 film Live By Night. He shot Director Andy Serkis's 2017 Breathe starring Andrew Garfield and Claire Foy; 2018's Adrift for Director Balthasar Kormakur starring Shailene Woodley and Sam Claflin for STX, and 2018's A Private War for Director Matthew Heineman starring Rosamund Pike. Richardson then shot Tarantino's 2020 hit Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, which starred Leonardo DiCaprio and Brad Pitt, and 2021's Venom 2 for Sony/Director Andy Serkis.
Recent credits include 2022's Emancipation again with Fuqua for Apple Studios, 2023's Air directed by Ben Affleck for Amazon Studios, and The Equalizer 3 for Director Antoine Fuqua and for Columbia Pictures.Must See:
The Aviator
Inglorious Basterds
Kill Bill: Vol. 1 & 2
Django Unchained
Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood- Cinematographer
- Director
- Producer
Lubezki began his career in Mexican film and television productions in the late 1980s. His first international production was the 1993 independent film Twenty Bucks (1993), which followed the journey of a single twenty-dollar bill.
Lubezki is a frequent collaborator with fellow Mexican filmmaker Alfonso Cuarón. The two have been friends since they were teenagers and attended the same film school at the National Autonomous University of Mexico. Together they have worked on six motion pictures: Love in the Time of Hysteria (1991), A Little Princess (1995), Great Expectations (1998), And Your Mother Too (2001), Children of Men (2006), and Gravity (2013). His work with Cuarón on Children of Men (2006), has received universal acclaim. The film utilized a number of new technologies and distinctive techniques. The "roadside ambush" scene was shot in one extended take utilizing a special camera rig invented by Doggicam systems, developed from the company's Power Slide system. For the scene, a vehicle was modified to enable seats to tilt and lower actors out of the way of the camera. The windshield of the car was designed to tilt out of the way to allow camera movement in and out through the front windscreen. A crew of four, including Lubezki, rode on the roof. Children of Men (2006) also features a seven-and-a-half-minute battle sequence composed of roughly five seamless edits.
Lubezki has been nominated for eight Academy Awards for Best Cinematography, winning three, for Gravity (2013), Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) (2014), and The Revenant (2015). He is the first cinematographer in history to win three consecutive Academy Awards.Must See:
Y tu mama tambien
Gravity
Birdman
The Revenant
Burn After Reading
Children of Men- Cinematographer
- Actor
- Director
Christopher Doyle was born on 2 May 1952 in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. He is a cinematographer and actor, known for Paranoid Park (2007), Hero (2002) and 2046 (2004).Must See:
2046
Ocean Paradise
In the Mood for Love
Hero- Cinematographer
- Camera and Electrical Department
- Actor
Don Burgess was born on 28 May 1956 in Santa Monica, California, USA. He is a cinematographer and actor, known for Forrest Gump (1994), Cast Away (2000) and Contact (1997). He has been married to Bonnie Ann Burgess since 4 December 1982. They have three children.Must See:
Contact
CastAway
Forest Gump
Flight
Allied
What Lies Beneath- Cinematographer
- Director
- Writer
André Turpin was born in 1966 in Gatineau, Québec, Canada. He is a cinematographer and director, known for Mommy (2014), Incendies (2010) and Soft Shell Man (2001).Must See:
Incendies
Mommy
Cosmos
C'est pas moi, je le jure!- Cinematographer
- Camera and Electrical Department
- Director
Phedon Papamichael, an award winning Cinematographer, was born in Athens, Greece and moved with his family to Germany, where in 1982 he completed his education in Fine Arts, in Munich. Working as a photojournalist brought Phedon to NYC in 1983, where he started crossing over into cinematography.
His first short film, the 35mm black & white SPUD, earned him the Award for Best Cinematography at the Cork Film Festival in Ireland. Following a call from John Cassavetes, his cousin and later collaborator, Phedon moved to Los Angeles. While continuing to work on short and experimental films, he began his feature career as a Director of Photography for Roger Corman, for whom he photographed seven films within two years.
Phedon now counts over 40 feature films to his credit as Director of Photography, including the early block-busters While You Were Sleeping starring Sandra Bullock and Cool Runnings, as well as Phenomenon, starring John Travolta, all directed by Jon Turteltaub.
His credits include many critically acclaimed films, such as Unstrung Heroes (Un Certain Regard, Cannes 1995), directed by Diane Keaton, and Unhook the Stars, starring Gena Rowlands and directed by Nick Cassavetes.
The Million Dollar Hotel, directed by Wim Wenders, was chosen as the Opening Film of the 2000 Berlin Film Festival and won the Grand Jury Prize, the Silver Bear, as well as the Golden Camera. The European co-production, 27 Missing Kisses, directed by Oscar nominated filmmaker Nana Djordjadze, premiered at Directors Fortnight in Cannes 2000. It garnered the Grand Prix Award at the 2000 New York/Avignon Film Festival, the Audience Award at the 2000 Montpellier Film Festival, as well as the Kodak Vision Award for Best Cinematography. In 2000 both films received a Camerimage nomination, for Best Cinematography.
In 2001 Phedon shot Moonlight Mile (Berlinale, 2003), directed by Brad Silberling, starring Dustin Hoffman, Susan Sarandon and Holly Hunter. It was followed by Identity, directed by James Mangold, and the Oscar-nominated Sideways, directed by Alexander Payne.
His credits continued with The Weatherman, directed by Gore Verbinski, starring Nicolas Cage and Michael Caine and Walk the Line, again directed by Mangold and starring Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon.
Phedon shot the Academy Award nominated western 3:10 to Yuma, directed by James Mangold, starring Russell Crowe and Christian Bale, and the blockbuster Pursuit of Happyness. In 2008 he photographed Oliver Stone's W. and then re-teamed again with James Mangold on Knight and Day, starring Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz, which shot all over the world.
He shot two of the most award-winning films of 2011: Alexander Payne's The Descendants and The Ides of March, directed by George Clooney. This is 40, directed by Judd Apatow was released in 2012 and won Comedy of the Year from the Hollywood Film Festival.
For his gorgeous B&W lensing on the highly acclaimed Nebraska, which received 6 Academy Award nominations and was directed by Alexander Payne, Phedon received an Oscar nomination, a BAFTA nomination and an ASC nomination amongst other honors. His latest film is The Monuments Men, a period film directed by George Clooney, and starring Matt Damon, Bill Murray, John Goodman, Cate Blanchett and Jean Dujardin which was shot in Germany and England.
In addition to his feature work, Phedon has shot and/or directed over 100 commercials for such clients as Nespresso, BMW, Audi, and Nextel.
On the music video side, his work includes The Ground Beneath Her Feet, Eelectrical Storm, directed by Anton Corbijn.
Papamichael's work also includes several forays into television. He received an ASC Award Nomination for Best Cinematography for Oliver Stone's innovative mini-series Wild Palms, as well as his second ASC Award Nomination for Best Cinematography for the Francis Ford Coppola-produced pilot White Dwarf.
Phedon resides in Los Angeles and Athens, Greece and speaks fluent English, German, French and Greek. He holds German, Greek and U.S. citizenship.Must See:
The Descendants
Ides of March
Walk the Line
3:10 to Yuma
The Pursuit of Happyness
Sideways
Nebraska- Cinematographer
- Camera and Electrical Department
- Writer
Born in Tahiti, the son of writer James Norman Hall, author of "Mutiny on the Bounty," Conrad Hall studied filmmaking at USC. He and two classmates formed a production company and sold a project to a local television station. Hall's company branched out into making industrial films and TV commercials. They were hired to shoot location footage for several feature films, including's Disney's The Living Desert (1953). In the early 1960s, Hall was hired as a camera assistant on several features and worked his way up to camera operator. He received his first cinematographer credit in 1965. Hall won acclaim for his rich and complex compositions, especially for In Cold Blood (1967) and won an Academy Award for Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969). He won two more Oscars, for American Beauty (1999), in 2000, and Road to Perdition (2002).Must See:
American Beauty
Road to Perdition- Cinematographer
- Director
- Camera and Electrical Department
Bill Pope was born on 19 June 1952 in Bowling Green, Kentucky, USA. He is a cinematographer and director, known for The Matrix (1999), The Jungle Book (2016) and Bound (1996). He is married to Sharon Oreck. They have one child.Must See:
The Matrix
The Matrix Reloaded
Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey
Baby Driver- Cinematographer
- Camera and Electrical Department
- Actor
Dick Pope was born in August 1947 in Bromley, Kent, England, UK. He is a cinematographer and actor, known for The Illusionist (2006), Mr. Turner (2014) and Vera Drake (2004).Must See:
Mr Turner
Another Year
The Illutionist
Dark City
13 Conversations About One Thing- Cinematographer
- Director
- Camera and Electrical Department
Xiaoding Zhao is known for House of Flying Daggers (2004), Curse of the Golden Flower (2006) and Shadow (2018).Must See:
House of Flying Daggers
The Flowers of War
Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles- Cinematographer
- Camera and Electrical Department
- Director
Janusz Kaminski is a Polish cinematographer and film director. He has established a partnership with Steven Spielberg, working as a cinematographer on his movies since 1993. He won the Academy Award for Best Cinematography for his work on Schindler's List (1993) and Saving Private Ryan (1998).
His other film's as an cinematographer includes Amistad (1997), A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001), Catch Me If You Can (2002), The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (2007), War Horse (2011), Lincoln (2012), Bridge of Spies (2015), The BFG (2016), and Ready Player One (2018).Must See:
Saving Private Ryan
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly- Cinematographer
- Director
- Actor
Yue Lü was born in 1957 in China. He is a cinematographer and director, known for Red Cliff (2008), Thirteen Princess Trees (2006) and Shanghai Triad (1995).Must See:
Aftershock
Red Cliff
Red Cliff II
Shanghai Triad- Cinematographer
- Camera and Electrical Department
- Producer
John Toll is an American cinematographer. His filmography spans a wide variety of genres, including epic period drama, comedy, science fiction, and contemporary drama. He won the Academy Award for Best Cinematography in both 1994 and 1995 for Legends of the Fall and Braveheart respectively.
He has collaborated with several noteworthy directors, including Francis Ford Coppola, Edward Zwick, Terrence Malick, Mel Gibson, John Madden, The Wachowskis, and Ang Lee. Outside of film, he has shot several commercials, the pilot episode of Golden Globe-winning drama series Breaking Bad, and has served as chief cinematographer on the Netflix original series Sense8.
Toll was also nominated for an Academy Award for his work on The Thin Red Line (1998).Must See:
Braveheart
Vanilla Sky
Cloud Atlas- Cinematographer
- Producer
- Director
Pau has been one of the top cinematographers in Hong Kong. After his graduation of Filmmaking at San Francisco Art Institute in 1983, he directed his first feature "The Temptation of Dance" and Wu du qing chou (aka Misty) in the 1990s. Pau has been working with the top directors such as John Woo (_Dip hyut shueng hung (1989)_ [aka The Killer]), Hark Tsui (Double Team, Hua yue jia qi [aka Love in the Time of Twilight], "The Chinese Feast"), Ronny Yu (The Bride with White Hair [aka Bride With White Hair], Bride of Chucky, Ye ban ge sheng [aka The Phantom Lover], Warriors of Virtue). His collaboration with Ang Lee on Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (aka Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon) with poetic style in lighting and stunning camera moves became the first one of Hong Kong cinematographers being nominated by the Oscar and won seven major US critics' awards. He then work quite many major films such as Shoot 'Em Up, The Promise, Perhaps Love, The Forbidden Kingdom, Confucius plus his latest producing and directing Zhongkui: Snow Girl and the Dark Crystal. With six awards for best cinematography at the Hong Kong Film Awards, Pau also got 25 nominations from the world.Must See:
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
The Forbidden Kingdom- Cinematographer
- Camera and Electrical Department
- Actor
Andrew Lesnie was an Australian cinematographer who frequently worked with Peter Jackson. He did the photography for The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit film trilogies. He also did the photography for Babe, King Kong, Rise of the Planet of the Apes, I Am Legend and The Lovely Bones. He passed away in April 2015 due to a heart attack.Must See:
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King- Cinematographer
- Additional Crew
- Camera and Electrical Department
Pawel Edelman was born on 26 June 1958 in Lódz, Lódzkie, Poland. He is a cinematographer, known for The Pianist (2002), Oliver Twist (2005) and The Ghost Writer (2010).Must See:
The Pianist
Ray- Cinematographer
- Camera and Electrical Department
- Director
SEAMUS McGARVEY (Director of Photography) has collected two Academy Award nominations for his cinematography: on Joe Wright's 2007 WWI drama "Atonement," and his 2012 adaptation of Tolstoy's classic, "Anna Karenina." In addition to the Oscar nominations, McGarvey won the British Society of Cinematographers (B.S.C.) award for "Anna Karenina" and "Nocturnal Animals" as well as a nomination for "Atonement," and also earned BAFTA and A.S.C. nods for both projects. "Atonement" also earned him nominations for the British Independent Film Award, the Chicago Film Critics Association and the Online Film Critics Society, while walking off with the top honor from the Phoenix Film Critics Society. McGarvey has also won three Evening Standard British Film Awards for "Atonement," "Anna Karenina" and Stephen Daldry's "The Hours"; and five Irish Film & Television Awards for "Atonement," "Anna Karenina," "Sahara" "We Need to Talk About Kevin" and "Nocturnal Animals". He was Emmy nominated in 2017 for the dystopian TV drama "Black Mirror: Nosedive" Dir. Joe Wright. In 2004, he was awarded the Royal Photographic Society's prestigious Lumière medal for contributions to the art of cinematography, sharing the company of such pioneers as Jack Cardiff, Freddie Francis, Roger Deakins and Sir Ridley Scott, McGarvey hails from Armagh, Northern Ireland, and began his career as a stills photographer before attending film school at the University of Westminster in London. Upon graduating in 1988, he began shooting short films and documentaries, including "Skin," which was nominated for a Royal Television Society Cinematography Award, and "Atlantic," directed by Sam Taylor-Wood. The latter project, an experimental, three-screen projected film created in 1997, earned Taylor-Wood a nomination for the 1998 Turner Prize, and would lead to an ongoing collaboration between McGarvey and the director. His four dozen credits as director of photography include Joss Whedon's superhero epic "Marvel's The Avengers," the industry record holder for highest opening weekend box office upon its release in May 2012, and the fourth highest-grossing film of all time; Lynne Ramsay's "We Need to Talk About Kevin"; Oliver Stone's "World Trade Center," which earned an IFTA nomination; Gary Winick's "Charlotte's Web"; John Hamburg's "Along Came Polly"; Stephen Frears' "High Fidelity"; Mike Nichols' "Wit"; Michael Apted's "Enigma"; Michael Winterbottom's "Butterfly Kiss," McGarvey's first feature film credit; and two projects marking actors' directorial debuts: Tim Roth's "The War Zone" and Alan Rickman's "The Winter Guest." He also served as cinematographer on the pilot for the BBC/HBO TV series "The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency," directed by Anthony Minghella. He reunited with director Wright for his 2009 drama "The Soloist," and filmmaker Sam Taylor-Wood (now Sam Taylor-Johnson) on her acclaimed 2008 drama, "Nowhere Boy," her 2011 short, "James Bond Supports International Women's Day" and the "Death Valley" segment of the 2006 erotic drama "Destricted." Following his work on "Godzilla" Dir. Gareth Edwards he reteamed with Taylor-Johnson on her big screen adaptation and Hollywood directorial debut of the bestselling phenomenon "Fifty Shades of Grey." "The Accountant," from director Gavin O'Connor. "Nocturnal Animals", from director Tom Ford. "LIFE" dir. Daniel Espinosa. "The Greatest Showman" Dir Michael Gracey and "Bad Times at the El Royale" Dir: Drew Goddard are his latest projects. His documentary work includes "Lost Angels: Skid Row Is My Home," which followed his work on Wright's "The Soloist," and filmed in the same locales; "Harry Dean Stanton: Partly Fiction"; "Rolling Stones: Tip of the Tongue"; and "The Name of This Film Is Dogme95." Supplementing his work on features and telefilms, McGarvey has also photographed and directed over 100 music videos, for such artists as PJ Harvey, Coldplay, Paul McCartney, Dusty Springfield, The Rolling Stones, U2, and Robbie Williams.Must See:
Atonement
The Avengers- Cinematographer
- Camera and Electrical Department
- Actor
John Schwartzman was born on 18 October 1960 in Los Angeles, California, USA. He is a cinematographer and actor, known for Seabiscuit (2003), Pearl Harbor (2001) and Armageddon (1998).Must See:
Seabiscuit
Pearl Harbour
The Rock
The Bucket List- Cinematographer
- Writer
- Camera and Electrical Department
Slawomir Idziak was born on 25 January 1945 in Katowice, Slaskie, Poland. He is a cinematographer and writer, known for Three Colors: Blue (1993), Black Hawk Down (2001) and Gattaca (1997). He was previously married to Maria Gladkowska.Must See:
Black Hawk Down
Three Colors: Blue
Gattaca- Cinematographer
- Camera and Electrical Department
- Director
Jeff Cronenweth was born on 14 January 1962 in Los Angeles County, California, USA. He is a cinematographer and director, known for Gone Girl (2014), The Social Network (2010) and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011).Must See:
Fight Club
Gone Girl
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
The Social Network- Cinematographer
- Director
- Actor
Sven Nykvist was considered by many in the industry to be one of the world's greatest cinematographers. During his long career that spanned almost half a century, Nyvist perfected the art of cinematography to its most simple attributes, and he helped give the films he had worked on the simplest and most natural look imaginable. Indeed, Mr. Nykvist prided himself on the simplicity and naturalness of his lighting schemes. Nykvist used light to create mood and, more significantly, to bring out the natural flesh tones in the human face so that the emotion of the scene could be played out on the face without the light becoming intrusive.
Nykvist entered the Swedish film industry when he was 19 and worked his way up to becoming a director of photography. He first worked with the legendary Swedish director Ingmar Bergman on the film Sawdust and Tinsel (1953), but his collaboration with Bergman began in earnest with The Virgin Spring (1960). From that point on, Nykvist replaced the great Gunnar Fischer as Bergman's cameraman, and the two men started a collaboration that would last for a quarter of a century. The switch from Fischer to Nykvist created a marked difference in the look of Bergman's films. In many respects, it was like the difference between Caravaggio and Rembrandt. Fischer's lighting was a study in light and darkness, while Nykvist preferred a more naturalistic, more subtle approach that in many ways relied on the northern light compositions of the many great Scandinavian painters.
Nykvist's work with Bergman is one of the most glorious collaborations in movie history. Nykvist created a markedly different look for each installment of Bergman's Faith Trilogy. Through a Glass Darkly (1961) had an almost suffocating quality to it, and The Silence (1963) hearkened back to the days of German Expressionism. Winter Light (1963), the middle part of the trilogy, may very well be the most perfect work of Nykvist's repertoire. Having studied the light in a real provincial church carefully, he then recreated the subtle changes in the light as the day went on on a Stockholm sound stage. Indeed, it's hard to believe that the film was shot on a stage and not in a real church in Northern Sweden. For Persona (1966), Nykvist relied heavily on Sweden's famous Midnight Sun. In The Passion of Anna (1969), Nykvist was able to capture the chilly, soggy, and melancholy look of Faro, one of Nykvist's first color films. Both Nykvist and Bergman were both very reluctant to film in color. He created a fascinating study of white and red in Cries & Whispers (1972), for which Nykvist won an Oscar. He won an Oscar again for the last feature-length theatrical film that Bergman made, Fanny and Alexander (1982).
During the late 1970s, Nykvist began making films elsewhere in Europe and in the United States, working for directors such as Louis Malle (Pretty Baby (1978)), Philip Kaufman (The Unbearable Lightness of Being (1988)), Bob Fosse (Star 80 (1983)), Nora Ephron (Sleepless in Seattle (1993)), Woody Allen (Another Woman (1988), Crimes and Misdemeanors (1989)), Richard Attenborough (Chaplin (1992)), and fellow Swede Lasse Hallström (What's Eating Gilbert Grape (1993)). The documentary Ljuset håller mig sällskap (2000) paid homage to Nykvist, although it does not grant us any real secrets about his working methods. Nykvist died in 2006.Must See:
The Unbearable Lightness of Being
Fanny and Alexander
Crimes and Misdemeanors- Cinematographer
- Camera and Electrical Department
- Producer
Matthew Libatique is an American cinematographer. He is best known for his work with director Darren Aronofsky on the films Pi (1998), Requiem for a Dream (2000), The Fountain (2006), Black Swan (2010), Noah (2014) and Mother! (2017). He also shot Bradley Cooper's directorial debut film, A Star Is Born (2018).
Libatique also work as an cinematographer in the films Tigerland (2000), Phone Booth (2002), Iron Man (2008), Iron Man 2 (2010) and Venom (2018).
He has received two Academy Awards nominations for Best Achievement in Cinematography, one for Black Swan and the other for A Star Is Born.Must See:
Black Swan
Requiem for a Dream
A Star Is Born (2018)- Cinematographer
- Camera and Electrical Department
- Director
Wally Pfister is an American cinematographer and film director, who is best known for his work with Christopher Nolan. He is also known for his work on director F. Gary Gray's The Italian Job (2003) and Bennett Miller's Moneyball (2011).
He made his directorial debut with the film Transcendence (2014), starring Johnny Depp.
His first collaboration with Nolan was on the neo-noir thriller Memento (2000). The success of this collaboration resulted in Pfister taking over as director of photography for Nolan's subsequent films: Insomnia (2002), Batman Begins (2005), The Prestige (2006), The Dark Knight (2008), which he partially shot with IMAX cameras, and Inception, which was shot partially in 5-perf 65 mm. He is the only cinematographer that has worked with director Christopher Nolan between Memento and Dark Knight Rises.
Pfister won an Academy Award for Best Cinematography for Inception (2010).Must See:
Memento
Moneyball
Inception- Cinematographer
- Camera and Electrical Department
- Composer
Hoyte Van Hoytema was born in Horgen, Switzerland. Van Hoytema is a Dutch-Swedish director of photography known for his work on The Fighter (2010), Her (2013), Interstellar (2014), and Dunkirk (2017). Van Hoytema always wanted to be a filmmaker, therefore he wished to attend a film school in The Netherlands, but was rejected twice. After the rejection, Van Hoytema worked in a soap factory, carpentry factory and even played in a band. Hoyte and his brother decided to go to Poland to visit their roots, considering their grandpa was Polish. He eventually went on to attend the Polish film school in Lodz, which has been attended by other notable film makers, with the most notable being Andrzej Wajda, Roman Polanski, and Krzysztof Kieslowski. At the later stages of Hoyte's education at the Lodz film school, Kieslowski was a professor there, who even supervised one of Hoyte's last projects. Hoyte left the Lodz film school early without having received a degree, but with many credentials. He started out with making documentaries. He later met someone who asked him to shoot a very low-budget film in Norway, which he accepted to do. This let Hoyte to film another film in Norway which was led by a a producer who was very active in Sweden. The producer offered Hoyte to work on a television show and another feature film. This started off Hoyte's career. He started to become a notable film maker in Sweden. His film 'Let the right one in' made him more known internationally.Must See:
Interstellar
Her
The Fighter- Cinematographer
- Camera and Electrical Department
- Director
Bruno Delbonnel was born in 1957 in Nancy, Meurthe-et-Moselle, France. He is a cinematographer and director, known for The Tragedy of Macbeth (2021), A Very Long Engagement (2004) and Inside Llewyn Davis (2013).Must See:
Darkest Hour
Inside Llewyn Davis
Amelie- Cinematographer
- Director
- Producer
After studying film and photography at the San Francisco Art Institute, Lance moved to New York to assist photographer/filmmaker Bruce Weber. He began his career as a cinematographer shooting music videos and commercials with close friend and collaborator Spike Jonze. Lance quickly became one of the industry's most sought after cinematographers and shot seminal music videos for directors Michel Gondry, Mark Romanek, Stéphane Sednaoui, and Dayton Faris. In 2001 he won the MTV Music Award for Best Cinematography for Fatboy Slim's Weapon of Choice.
Lance's feature Cinematography debut was Vincent Gallo's cult classic Buffalo 66. His long list of credits include Sofia Coppola's Lost in Translation (BAFTA nomination for Best Cinematography), Marie Antoinette as well as Spike Jonze's Being John Malkovich, Adaptation and Where the Wild Things Are.
In the late 90's Lance began his transition into directing and in 1998, together with his business partner Jackie Kelman Bisbee, founded the production company Park Pictures. Over the years, he has received 35 Cannes Lions for his work with clients such as Nike, Apple, HP, VW, P&G, Subaru and more. He was nominated Best Commercial Director by the DGA in 2003, 2011, 2012, and 2017. In 2011, Lance's Super Bowl spot for Volkswagen, The Force, became the undisputed highlight of the year's Super Bowl broadcast. The Force was named the best ad of 2011 by AdWeek, Creativity, and YouTube, and consistently ranks on lists of the greatest Super Bowl ads of all time.
His Apple film "Misunderstood" won the 2014 Emmy Award for Outstanding Commercial. In 2019 Lance won his second Emmy Award for Nike "Dream Crazy," starring Colin Kaepernick.Must See:
Lost in Translation
Adaptation
Being John Malkovich- Cinematographer
Hideo Yamamoto was born in 1960 in Gifu, Japan. He is a cinematographer, known for Fireworks (1997), Tetsujin niju-hachigo (2005) and Pacchigi! (2004).Must See:
Visitor Q
The Whispering Star
Why Don't You Play in Hell?
Fireworks- Cinematographer
- Camera and Electrical Department
- Director
Donald McAlpine was born in 1934 in Quandialla, New South Wales, Australia. He is a cinematographer and director, known for Moulin Rouge! (2001), Romeo + Juliet (1996) and The Dressmaker (2015).Must See:
Moulin Rouge!
Romeo + Juliette- Cinematographer
- Camera and Electrical Department
- Producer
Álex Catalán began his professional career 35 years ago as a press photographer. He attended film schools in Madrid, London, Los Angeles and La Habana and worked for 12 years as camera operator and lighting technician for TVE (Spain National Broadcasting Company).
From 2000 on, he focused on professional cinematography and has shot since then 32 long feature films as director of photography, receiving 8 Goya nominations for After, Unit 7, Marshland, A Perfect Day, 1898, Yuli, While At War and Prison 77.
In 2014 he received the Jury Prize for best cinematography in the 62 edition of the San Sebastian International Film Festival and, in 2015, the Best Cinematography Goya award, both for Marshland.
In 2021 received the RTVA Career Award and, in 2011 and 2015, the CEC Medal, from the Spanish Cinematographic Writers Association for Even the Rain and Marshland, as well as 5 Teo Escamilla Awards for the best technical-artistic contribution, awarded by the Andalusian Cinematographic Writer's Association. In Mexico he won the Best Cinematography Award in the Guadalajara 24th International Film Festival for Camino and, at New York 2013, the Tribeca Film Festival special mention for the cinematography of Unit 7.Must See:
Marshland
Even the Rain- Cinematographer
- Camera and Electrical Department
- Director
Newton Thomas Sigel was born in August 1955 in Detroit, Michigan, USA. He is a cinematographer and director, known for Cherry (2021), Da 5 Bloods (2020) and Bohemian Rhapsody (2018). He is married to Lisa Chang.Must See:
Drive
Towelhead
Confessions of a Dangerous Mind
The Usual Suspects- Cinematographer
- Director
- Camera and Electrical Department
César Charlone was born on 19 April 1958 in Montevideo, Uruguay. He is a cinematographer and director, known for The Constant Gardener (2005), Blindness (2008) and City of God (2002).Must See:
City of God
Blindness- Cinematographer
- Camera and Electrical Department
Must See:
Agnosia
The City Without Limits- Cinematographer
- Camera and Electrical Department
- Actor
Must See:
Enter the Void
Irreversible
Love- Cinematographer
- Camera and Electrical Department
- Director
Benoit was born in Nanterre in the west suburb of Paris in 1961 and spent his childhood in Cherbourg, in Normandy. He started to study cinema in 1980 at the Paris Sorbonne University and at the Ecole Louis Lumiere where he specialized in cinematography mentored by Robert Bresson's favorite camera operator.
Benoit's early breakthrough as a director of photography came with the movie he shot for the Vietnamese director Tran Anh Hung « The Scent of Green Papaya », a poetic recreation of the 1950's Saigon entirely shot on stage in Paris. The film won the Camera d'Or Award in Cannes Film Festival and an Academy Award nomination for best foreign film. Following that success, Benoit re-teamed with the same director for «Cyclo »,a violent tale of contemporary Vietnam all shot in the busy streets of Ho Chi Minh City and was awarded a Golden Lion in Venice Film Festival by president of the jury Abbas Kiorastami.
Since then Benoit established himself as a very international cinematographer. He loves nothing more than jumping from one universe to another.
« The Loss of Sexual Innocence », a fearless collage of bold images shot in three weeks in three different countries on Ektachrome for Academy Award winning director Mike Figgis was Benoit's first English speaking movie quickly followed by « The Winslow Boy », a very painterly adaptation of an Edwardian play directed by David Mamet. Then a biopic of the scandalous Marquis de Sade during the french Revolution directed by Benoit Jacquot ( « Sade » ) followed by a ghost story in the streets of Tapei with revered Taiwanese director Tsai Ming Liang ( « What Time is it There » ). An adaption of Shakespeare's « Merchant of Venice » starring Al Pacino and Jeremy Irons shot in a dilapidated Venice back lot in Luxembourg followed by a brutal and extremely stylish western shot in the Australian Outback, written by Nick Cave and directed by John Hillcoat ( « The Proposition » ) A love story between Jude Law and Juliette Binoche directed by Academy award winner Anthony Minghella and set in London's Kings Cross new development ( « Breaking and Entering » ) followed by a tragic love story between the son of a concentration camp's commander and a Jewish boy ( « The Boy in Striped Pyjamas » ) A very experimental film adapted from Oscar Wilde's « Salome » directed by Al Pacino. Al directs and acts with Jessica Chastain and Benoit helps him to mix abruptly the play and real life in a small stage in Los Angeles followed by a post 9-11 spy story adapted from a John Le Carré's novel and shot in the warehouses of Hamburg's harbor and directed by the legendary dutch photographer Anton Corbijn and starring Philipp Seymour Hoffman ( « A Most Wanted Man » ) A biopic of the cosmologist Stephen Hawking fighting with motor neuron disease shot on the campus of Cambridge University and directed by Academy Award winning director James Marsh and starring Eddie Redmayne who won an Oscar for best actor for this performance ( « The Theory of Everything » ) followed by the last two years of the life of Vincent Van Gogh shot entirely handheld by Benoit in Provence under the direction of the « painter director » Julian Schnabel. Willem Dafoe plays Vincent and gets and academy award nomination for best actor ( At Eternity's Gate ). Benoit is also developing a parallel career as a painter. His first show « My Hollywood » opened in New York in march 2017.Must See:
The Theory of Everything
The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas
Artemisia- Cinematographer
- Camera and Electrical Department
- Director
Peter Suschitzky was born on 25 July 1941 in Warsaw, Mazowieckie, Poland. He is a cinematographer and director, known for Dead Ringers (1988), Eastern Promises (2007) and Naked Lunch (1991).Must See:
eXistenZ
Naked Lunch
Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back- Cinematographer
- Camera and Electrical Department
- Actor
Manuel Alberto Claro is a Chilean-Danish cinematographer best known for his work with director Lars von Trier on Melancholia (2011), Nymphomaniac: Vol 1 (2013), and The House That Jack Built (2018). Claro also shot the 2014 comedy Top Five starring Chris Rock and is known for his work with director Christoffer Boe on the feature films Everything Will Be Fine (2010), Allegro (2005) and Reconstruction (2003), which went on to win the Camera d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival.
Claro has won numerous international accolades for his work. With an impressive 24 nominations and 12 wins, Claro has won awards at the Venice Film Festival, Camerimage, the Cannes Film Festival, and the European Film Awards. Additionally Claro's movies have premiered at the Cannes Film Festival, the Venice Film Festival, the Toronto International Film Festival, the Sundance Film Festival and the Berlin International Film Festival.
Recent credits include The Chorus Girls directed by Ditte Hansen and Louise Mieritz for TV2 Danmark in February, The Pact (2021) directed by Billie August for Motor Productions, five episodes of The Kingdom Exodus (Season 3, 2022) directed by Lars Von Trier for Zentropa Entertainment and A Taste of Hunger (2021) directed by Christoffer Boe for Zentropa Entertainment.
Claro has lensed commercials for many brands including H&M, Sony, IKEA, Canon, Nokia, Maersk, Momondo, Persil, Philadelphia, Synoptik, Tulip, Velux, Zeta. He has shot music videos for a wide range of artists, including FKA Twigs, Paloma Faith, Rhye, Sons of Raphael.
Born in Santiago, Chile and raised in Denmark, Claro studied still photography in Milan and worked as an assistant photographer before attending the prestigious National Film School of Denmark to study cinematography. Claro currently resides in Copenhagen with his partner and two children. He is fluent in Danish, English and Spanish.Must See:
Melancholia
Top Five
Nymphomaniac: Volume I
Nymphomaniac: Volume II- Cinematographer
- Sound Department
- Additional Crew
Gian Filippo Corticelli was born on 25 March 1957 in Bologna, Emilia-Romagna, Italy. He is a cinematographer, known for Naples in Veils (2017), Facing Windows (2003) and Third Person (2013).Must See:
Facing Windows
Don`t Move
Twice Born- Cinematographer
- Camera and Electrical Department
Mauro Fiore was born on 15 November 1964 in Marzi, Calabria, Italy. He is a cinematographer, known for Avatar (2009), Training Day (2001) and The Island (2005). He has been married to Christine Vollmer since 2000. They have three children.Must See:
Avatar
Training Day- Cinematographer
- Camera and Electrical Department
- Actor
Ping Bin Lee was born in 1954 in Taiwan. He is a cinematographer and actor, known for In the Mood for Love (2000), The Assassin (2015) and Crosscurrent (2016).Must See:
The Assassin
Norwegian Wood
In the Mood for Love- Cinematographer
- Camera and Electrical Department
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Dariusz Wolski is a Polish film and music video cinematographer. He is best known for Crimson Tide (1995), Dark City (1998), the Pirates of the Caribbean film series, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007), The Martian (2015) and All the Money in the World (2017).
Many of his collaborations include working with film directors like Ridley Scott, Rob Marshall, Tony Scott, Gore Verbinski and Tim Burton.
Wolski has also worked on several music videos with artists such as Elton John, Eminem, David Bowie, Sting, Aerosmith, and Neil Young.Must See:
Dark City
Crimson Tide
The Martian
The Walk
Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl
Sicario: Day of the Soldado- Cinematographer
- Camera and Electrical Department
- Actor
Darius Khondji was born on 21 October 1955 in Tehran, Iran. He is a cinematographer and actor, known for Amour (2012), Se7en (1995) and Delicatessen (1991). He is married to Marianne Khondji. They have three children.Must See:
Se7en
Midnight in Paris- Cinematographer
- Camera and Electrical Department
- Actor
Dan Mindel was born on 27 May 1958 in Johannesburg, South Africa. He is a cinematographer and actor, known for Spy Game (2001), The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014) and Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens (2015). He has been married to Lisa Fallon since 6 June 1992. They have four children. He was previously married to Paula Hamilton.Must See:
Star Trek: Into Darkness
Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens- Cinematographer
- Camera and Electrical Department
- Director
Philippe Rousselot was born on 4 September 1945 in Briey, Meurthe-et-Moselle, France. He is a cinematographer and director, known for A River Runs Through It (1992), Interview with the Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles (1994) and Dangerous Liaisons (1988).Must See:
The Great Debaters
Antwone Fisher
Big Fish- Cinematographer
- Camera and Electrical Department
- Editor
David Tattersall is well-known as a versatile cinematographer who frequently collaborates with top directors. An expert in both film and digital photography, David is passionate about his art, and is equally at home on feature films and television series in all genres, from big-budget blockbusters to thrillers, sci-fi fantasy, drama, action, comedy, and small intimate romances. His extensive international experience includes work on five continents in more than 20 countries.
Tattersall has worked on studio, independent, and streaming films. As cinematographer for director George Lucas, he worked on the Star Wars prequel Episodes I, II, and III: The Phantom Menace, Attack of the Clones, and Revenge of the Sith. His features with Frank Darabont include the Oscar®-nominated drama The Green Mile and the romantic drama The Majestic. With filmmaker Martin Campbell, Tattersall served as cinematographer on The Foreigner and Vertical Limit.
Tattersall's credits as DP are substantial, including films such as: the Netflix film Death Note for Adam Wingard; the James Bond film, Die Another Day; Con Air; Tomb Raider II; Speed Racer; Romeo and Juliet; Journey 2: The Mysterious Island; The Matador; The Longest Ride; The Day the Earth Stood Still; and Tooth Fairy.
His work in television has been outstanding, as seen the Robert Kirkman TV series Outcast and his work with television productions: The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles (for which he received a nomination for an Emmy and the American Society of Cinematographers Award); the pilot episode for the AMC series The Walking Dead; and the TNT series, Mob City.
A member of the British Society of Cinematographers, David received a first class BA in Fine Arts from Goldsmiths College, University of London, then studied at Britain's National Film and Television School. His student films were highly regarded, including King's Christmas, which was nominated for the BAFTA Best Short in 1987; and Metropolis Apocalypse, which was shown at Cannes in 1988. Tattersall has lived in the U.S. for twenty years, and resides in California. He is a member of The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.Special Mention - Special Visual Effects
Must See:
Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace
Star Wars: Episode II - Attach of the Clone
Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith- Cinematographer
- Camera and Electrical Department
- Director
Eduardo Serra was born on 2 October 1943 in Lisbon, Portugal. He is a cinematographer and director, known for Girl with a Pearl Earring (2003), Unbreakable (2000) and Blood Diamond (2006).Must See:
Girl with a Pearl Earring
Unbreakable
Blood Diamond- Producer
- Director
- Cinematographer
Steven Andrew Soderbergh was born on January 14, 1963 in Atlanta, Georgia, USA, the second of six children of Mary Ann (Bernard) and Peter Soderbergh. His father was of Swedish and Irish descent, and his mother was of Italian ancestry. While he was still at a very young age, his family moved to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, where his father was a professor and the dean of the College of Education at Louisiana State University. While still in high school, around the age of 15, Soderbergh enrolled in the university's film animation class and began making short 16-millimeter films with second-hand equipment, one of which was the short film "Janitor". After graduating high school, he went to Hollywood, where he worked as a freelance editor. His time there was brief and, shortly after, he returned home and continued making short films and writing scripts.
His first major break was in 1986 when the rock group Yes assigned him to shoot a full-length concert film for the band, which eventually earned him a Grammy nomination for the video, Yes: 9012 Live (1985). Following this achievement, Soderbergh filmed Winston (1987), the short-subject film that he would later expand into Sex, Lies, and Videotape (1989), a film that earned him the Cannes Film Festival's Palme d'Or Award, the Independent Spirit Award for Best Director, and an Oscar nomination for Best Original Screenplay. Over the next six years, he was married to actress Betsy Brantley and had a daughter named Sarah Soderbergh, who was born in 1990.
Also during this time, he made such films as Kafka (1991), King of the Hill (1993), The Underneath (1995) and Gray's Anatomy (1996), which many believed to be disappointments. In 1998, Soderbergh made Out of Sight (1998), his most critically and commercially successful film since Sex, Lies, and Videotape (1989). Then, in 2000, Soderbergh directed two major motion pictures that are now his most successful films to date: Erin Brockovich (2000) and Traffic (2000). These films were both nominated for Best Picture Oscars at the 2001 Academy Awards and gave him the first twin director Oscar nomination in almost 60 years and the first ever win. He won the Oscar for Best Director for Traffic (2000) at the 2001 Oscars.Must See:
Traffic
Full Frontal- Cinematographer
- Camera and Electrical Department
- Additional Crew
Sean Bobbitt was born on 29 November 1958 in Corpus Christi, Texas, USA. He is a cinematographer, known for 12 Years a Slave (2013), Hunger (2008) and Shame (2011).Must See:
Shame
Old Boy
12 Years a Slave- Cinematographer
- Director
- Camera and Electrical Department
Caleb Deschanel is an American film cinematographer and film/television director. He has been nominated for six Academy Awards, each time in the field of cinematography. The first nomination came in 1983 for the film The Right Stuff (1983). His second was in 1984 for The Natural (1984), the third in 1996 for Fly Away Home (1996), the fourth in 2000 for The Patriot (2000), the fifth for The Passion of the Christ (2004), and the sixth for Never Look Away (2018).
He is the father of actresses Emily Deschanel and Zooey Deschanel.Must See:
The Lion King (2018)
The Rught Stuff (1983)
Killer Joe (2011)- Cinematographer
- Camera and Electrical Department
- Director
John Mathieson came up through the traditional camera ranks. Before his start as a cinematographer in feature films he shot many music videos, documentaries and TV commercials. He also worked in cutting rooms and has always considered himself as a film maker, interested in all areas of the process, rather than a dedicated cinematographer.Must See:
Hannibal
X-Men: First Class- Cinematographer
- Camera and Electrical Department
- Director
Bradford Young is an American cinematographer. His feature films as director of photography include White Lies, Black Sheep (2007), Pariah (2011), Restless City (2011), Middle of Nowhere (2012), Ain't Them Bodies Saints (2013), Mother of George (2013), and Arrival (2016).
In January 2017, Young became the first African-American cinematographer to be nominated for an Academy Award, for his work on Arrival. He is also the first person of color to be nominated in the Academy Award cinematography category since 1998 when Remi Adefarasin was nominated for Elizabeth.Must See:
Solo: A Star Wars Story
Selma
A Most Violent Year
Arrival- Cinematographer
- Camera and Electrical Department
- Actor
Vittorio Storaro, the award-winning cinematographer who won Oscars for "Apocalypse Now (1979)", "Reds (1981)" and "The Last Emperor (1987)". He was born on June 24, 1940 in Rome, where his father was a projectionist at the Lux Film Studio. At the age of 11, he began studying photography at a technical school. He enrolled at C.I.A.C (Italian Cinemagraphic Training Centre) and subsequently continued his education at the state cinematography school Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia. When he enrolled at the school at the age of 18, he was one of its youngest students ever.
At the age of 20, he was employed as an assistant cameraman and was promoted to camera operator within a year. Storaro spent several years visiting galleries and studying the works of great painters, writers, musicians and other artists. In 1966, he went back to work as an assistant cameraman on Before the Revolution (1964), one of the first films directed by Bernardo Bertolucci. Storaro earned his first credit as a cinematographer in 1968 for "Giovinezza, giovinezza". His third film was "The Spider's Stratagem (1970)" which began his long collaboration with Bertolucci. He also shot "The Conformist (1970)", "Last Tango in Paris (1972)", "Luna (1979)", "The Sheltering Sky (1990)_", "Little Buddha (1993)," for Bertolucci.
He won his first Oscar for the cinematography of "Apocalypse Now (1979)", for which director Francis Ford Coppola gave him free rein to design the visual look of the picture. Storaro originally had been reluctant to take the assignment as he considered Gordon Willis to be Coppola's cinematographer, but Coppola wanted him, possibly because of his having shot "Last Tango in Paris (1972), which had starred Marlon Brando. Brando's performance in the film had been semi-improvised, and Coppola has planned on a similar tack for his scenes in the jungle with Brando's character Colonel Kurtz.
The results of their collaboration were masterful, and he later shot the 3-D short "Captain EO (1986)", the feature films "One from the Heart (1981)" and "Tucker: The Man and His Dream (1988)," and the "Life without Zoe" segment of "New York Stories (1989)" for Coppola. He won his second Oscar as the director of photography on Warren Beatty's "Reds (1981)" and subsequently shot "Dick Tracy (1990)" and "Bulworth (1998)" for Beatty He won his third Oscar as the director of photography on Bertolucci's Best Picture Academy Award-winner "The Last Emperor (1987)".
"All great films are a resolution of a conflict between darkness and light," Storaro says. "There is no single right way to express yourself. There are infinite possibilities for the use of light with shadows and colors. The decisions you make about composition, movement and the countless combinations of these and other variables is what makes it an art."
According to Storaro, "Some people will tell you that technology will make it easier for one person to make a movie alone but cinema is not an individual art." Storaro disagrees. "It takes many people to make a movie. You can call them collaborators or co-authors. There is a common intelligence. The cinema never has the reality of a painting or a photograph because you make decisions about what the audience should see, hear and how it is presented to them. You make choices which super-impose your own interpretations of reality."
Storaro believes that, "It is our obligation to defend the audiences' rights to see the images and to hear the sounds the way we have expressed ourselves as artists,".
During the 1970s, the metaphor of cinematography as 'painting with light' took hold. Storaro, however, adds motion to the mix. Cinematography, to the great D.P., is writing with light and motion, the literal translation of the word cinematography, which derives from Greek
"It describes the real meaning of what we are attempting to accomplish," Storaro says. "We are writing stories with light and darkness, motion and colors. It is a language with its own vocabulary and unlimited possibilities for expressing our inner thoughts and feelings."
As a cinematographer, he is highly innovative. He had Rosco International fabricate a series of custom color gels for his lighting, which he used to implement his theories about emotional response to color. The "Storaro Selection" of color gels is available for other cinematographers from Rosco.
He created the "Univision" film system, which is a 35mm format based on film stock with three perforation that provides an aspect ratio of 2:1, which Storaro feels is a good compromise between the 2.35:1 and 1.85:1 wide-screen ratios favored by most filmmakers. Storaro developed the new technology with the intention of 2:1 becoming the universal aspect ratio for both movies and television in the digital age. He first shot the television mini-series "Dune" with the Univision system.
Storaro is the youngest person to receive the American Society of Cinematographer's Lifetime Achievement Award, and only the second recipient after Sven Nykvist not to be a U.S. citizen.Must See:
The Last Emperor
Reds
1900